The present invention is directed toward a numeric color coded filing system and more particularly toward such a system for use with expandable files.
As is well known in the art, expandable files are frequently used in law offices and other business offices for holding a plurality of file folders and other types of papers and documents. It is very common for these files to be labeled by simply handwriting the relevant file number and name and other information directly on the face of the file using a marking pencil or the like. This creates several problems. The most difficult of which is in locating a file which has been placed on a storage shelf. Expandable files are normally stored on shelves resembling bookshelves with only an end exposed. The file information written on the face of the file is totally covered by the next adjacent file.
Another less aggravating but no less important problem created by such use of expandable files is their cost. When the file information is written directly on the face of the file, the file cannot be reused for some other matter. Since the files are relatively expensive, it would be highly desirable to be able to reuse expandable file folders from matters which have been totally closed.
One proposed solution to part of the above-described problems is a product which has recently come onto the market called COLOR-BANDS which are available from Authentex, Incorporated of Solon, Ohio. COLOR-BANDS are colored strips of a strong sheet-like material having an adhesive on the back side thereof. The strips are approximately 10 inches long by 2 inches high and are secured to the ends of an expandable file by securing approximately 2 inches of each end of the strip to the front and back of the file whereby the strip extends across the gusset of the file. The COLOR-BANDS strip functions as a handle and file identification information such as a file number can be printed on a white block located in the middle of the strip.
Although the COLOR-BANDS may help to identify files from the exposed ends thereof, they are of somewhat limited value since the amount of information written on the COLOR-BANDS is rather limited due to the space available. Thus, more complete information must be written on the face of the file. As a result, the expandable files cannot be reused.
The COLOR-BANDS are also incapable of solving another very aggravating problem which one experiences when using expandable files and that is the locating of a file which has been misfiled on a shelf. Since the COLOR-BANDS are produced in several different colors, categories of files could, perhaps, be identified by a particular color. If this were done, a gross error in the location of a file might be discoverable but if a file is merely placed in the wrong numerical sequence, it would be extremely difficult to locate.
To Applicants' knowledge, no one has ever proposed a filing system which is particularly useful for expandable file folders and which has the ability to assist a clerk in immediately locating a misfiled folder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,182 does disclose a color coded labeling system but this system is specifically designed for end-tab filing and cannot be used with expandable files.